


Safe

by F1_rabbit



Series: Police AU [3]
Category: Motorcycling RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Police, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-31
Updated: 2018-03-31
Packaged: 2019-04-16 09:45:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,774
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14162094
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/F1_rabbit/pseuds/F1_rabbit
Summary: Team Alex have just been handed their first big case, and the chance that every officer dreams of, going undercover.





	Safe

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Always_Dreaming](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Always_Dreaming/gifts).



“I think you two are ready for your first big case.” Marc held the file out, but when Alex went to grab it Marc pulled back, laughing as Alex smiled, even when they were at work, some things never changed.

Alex snatched the file out of Marc’s hand while his eyes were locked on Dani’s rear. Marc was practically drooling as Dani bent over to get something out of the bottom filing cabinet drawer, blushing when Dani looked back over his shoulder, a smug grin on his face as he winked at Marc.

“You two are about as subtle as a baton to the balls.”

“You can talk.” Marc smiled, giving Alex a playful shove and knocking the file out of his hand.

“Hey, at least I’m not drooling over Luca in the office.” Alex scrabbled to pick up the paper as Rins wandered over, reaching out for the file before Alex could say anything.

“Have we got a new case?”

“It’s a big one, have fun.” Marc laughed as he walked away, Alex frowning as he tried to work out why Marc would laugh like that, making him blush even though he didn’t know why it would be embarrassing yet.

And then Rins shoved a piece of paper across the desk, and Alex saw exactly what case they were going to be working on.

“Oh.”

*

Neither of them could say no to such a big case, but the thought of pretending to be a sex worker wasn’t Alex’s idea of fun.

Luckily, he wasn’t the one who was going to be hanging around the streets half-naked on a frosty March evening.

“Why am I the one that has to go undercover?” Rins folded his arms, and Alex thought about telling him he’d look better in hot pants, but he didn’t want to make this any harder than it had to be.

“Because everyone would recognise me.” Alex pointed at the front page of the local newspaper, a big picture of him staring back, and Alex turned it over, already sick of the attention that it had got him.

“Funny how you got all the credit for that when we’re a team.”

“If you’d gone to get the coffees like I asked, you’d have found the kid.” Alex shrugged, and Rins leant back in his seat, the creaking ominously loud in the empty interview room.

“I still can’t believe you solved a missing child case without actually doing anything.”

“Neither can I, but at least the kid got home safe.”

“I know.” Rins exhaled, his lips flapping as he shook his head.

Alex tapped his fingers against the desk, weighing up his options as Rins stared at the ceiling.

“We don’t have to do this, I’m sure that Jorge would look good in hot pants.”

“I’m not giving this case away,” Rins said, staring at Alex so that he could see he was serious. “I don’t want the rest of the team thinking that we’re not up to the job.”

“I’ll talk to surveillance, get the gear that we need, and make sure we’re ready for Friday night.”

“Why Friday? That’s tomorrow night.”

“It’s the busiest night, no-one will notice one more scantily clad guy hanging around by the river.”

Rins shivered, and Alex resisted the temptation to tease him, mostly because he was sure that Rins would throw his coffee over him. Even thought it was cold, it wouldn’t be fun sitting in a soggy uniform.

“It’s going to be a long day tomorrow, you should head home and get some sleep.”

Rins nodded, downing the last of his cold coffee. “Are you staying here?”

“Yes, I’ll get everything sorted and then grab a power nap in the break room.”

“Thanks.”

“What are partners for?” Alex reached out a fist, and Rins gave it a bump before heading out, his smile not quite enough to mask the worries behind his eyes.

Grabbing the file, Alex headed towards Marc’s desk, and his emergency Red Bull stash for all night investigative work.

If Rins was going to be undercover, he had to make sure everything else was organised and in place to keep Rins out of harm’s way.

***

Alex woke up with a pain in his neck and he wiped at his mouth, ignoring the drool that was on the file as Rins laughed.

“Here, I got you a coffee.”

“Thank you.” Alex glanced at the two empty Red Bull cans, but that had been last night, well, earlier this morning before sleep had won the battle.

The first sip made him feel more alert, and he looked at the time to see that it was gone two in the afternoon.

But that wasn’t the most shocking thing he saw. Rins was blond.

“You like?” Rins winked at him, his grin manic as he ran his hand through his now bleach blond curls.

“It suits you.”

“Thanks.” Rins sat down on the edge of Alex’s desk, reaching out for the file that was now thicker with all the requisition requests and equipment logs.

“I’ve got everything ready for you, now we need to spend the afternoon going through all the files so that you can recognise this creep if he’s there.”

Rins nodded, and Alex could see his nerves, but now wasn’t the time for reassurances. They had a job to do, and Rins wouldn’t rest until justice was served.

*

Rins was quiet all afternoon, and Alex dutifully brought him coffee as he studied the case file, memorising every last detail in the hope that it would be useful. The various eyewitness reports were inconclusive, but hopefully one of the descriptions fitted their guy, and they could stop him before he seriously hurt someone.

So far, most of the attacks had been minor, a few cuts and bruises, but Alex knew how these things ended, and it was never good.

The sun set, and Rins was fidgety after that, his chair creaking as his leg bounced, his smile getting more and more strained as the clock ticked on.

By the time they were heading down to the car park, Rins was vibrating with nerves, his baton jangling against his leg as he wandered down the corridor.

They paused at the door, Alex glancing over his shoulder to make sure that they were alone.

“Are you ready to do this?”

“I was born ready.” Rins laughed until there were tears streaming down his cheeks, but that seemed to take the edge off, his body more relaxed as they stepped out into the car park.

A random collection of undercover vehicles were parked up in the small courtyard, the high walls obscuring the view from the street, not that it would take a genius to work out that it was part of the police station.

“Which one is ours for the night?”

“This beast.” Alex pointed over to the corner of the car park, and Rins raised an eyebrow.

The surveillance van wasn’t exactly subtle, but in a city this size, there were always vans scattered along the roadside, from road maintenance to utilities, and all manner of delivery vans.

Delivery vans were too suspicious if they stayed still for a long time, but a repair van for a telecoms company, they were often in place for hours, and there were so many of them that no-one ever gave them a second look.

Alex pressed the button on the key to unlock the van, and Rins slid open the side door, checking that all the equipment was there and in working order before taking a seat.

And that was when he saw his outfit for the night.

“I’m going to freeze to death in this.”

“It’ll be fine, this will keep you warm.” Alex held up a pink fake fur shoulder warmer that looked like he’d shrunk a full-size cardigan in the wash.

“That is hideous.”

“You can’t talk, I’ve seen some of your fashion choices.”

“Hey! That unicorn onesie is awesome.” Rins stuck his tongue out, and Alex laughed, it seemed like only yesterday that they were rookies, studying and having sleep overs.

“Don’t worry, you’ll look great in short shorts and a vest.” Alex winked at him, and Rins’ smile was strained. “But you’ll have to find somewhere to hide your ID.”

Rins groaned as he stripped off his uniform, and Alex made a point of checking that all the batteries for the video cameras worked, even though he’d checked them only hours ago.

When Alex turned back round, Rins was leaning against the wall of the van, his slim yet toned frame emphasised by the baggy vest, and his lanky legs seemed endless in the shortest shorts Alex had ever seen.

“You look good.” Alex winked at him, and Rins stuck his tongue out.

“I’ll tell Luca that you were checking me out.”

“You’re a handsome guy.”

“Maybe I’ll find a boyfriend tonight.” Rins laughed, sliding into the passenger seat as Alex did the same.

“Remember, if any of them are interested, get them alone and flash them your badge, we’re not here for the customers.”

“I know.” Rins’ smile was gone, he was focused on the task in hand, and Alex felt his heart rate pick up.

They were really going to do this, their first solo undercover mission, and it was both thrilling and terrifying.

“Do you remember the signal?”

“I place two fingers over my pocket, and you’ll come rushing in to save me.” Rins laughed, resting his hand on Alex’s knee, and Alex placed his hand over it.

“Always.”

They both giggled at how dramatic they were being, and Alex knew that this was their chance to shine.

Alex turned the keys, the engine roaring into life as Rins smiled, this was what they’d all wanted to do as rookies, be the guy undercover, rather than the guy sitting in the van.

“Ready?”

“Let’s do this.”

*

Rins shivered, he’d only been out here twenty minutes and he was already frozen to the core.

The others ignored him, suspicious of a new guy horning in on their territory, and the punters seemed to head directly to their favourites, clearly regulars.

It made things easier for him, if no-one was talking to him, he could focus on scanning the street for any sign of their suspect.

The surveillance van was parked under a broken streetlight, and occasionally Rins saw the moonlight glint off the lens of Alex’s camera, but it wasn’t noticeable unless people knew what they were looking for.

From the way that the others flaunted their wares, they weren’t interested in hiding in the shadows, and the guy at the end of the street who kept glancing in their direction was acting as lookout for any sign of the police.

Not that they did anything about this, it was very much a live and let live agreement, and the only reason he was here tonight was because of the assaults.

An hour later, Rins was sure that their suspect wasn’t going to show up tonight, and his ego had taken a serious hit at the fact that not one customer had done more than glance in his direction in the entire time that he’d been there. It explained why his love life was non-existent lately, apparently he wasn’t even good enough for a quick fuck.

Glancing at the van, there was no reflection from Alex’s lens, the clouds had moved to cover the moon, and Rins felt a chill run down his spine. The little reminder that Alex was there had been a comfort, but now he felt like he was all alone.

He was roused out of his thoughts by a man strolling up, ignoring the guys that were throwing themselves at him, and Rins looked up to see that the customer had his sights set on one guy in particular.

Him.

Rins felt a blush creep on to his cheeks, but he hoped the customer would assume he was cold, rather than embarrassed by the attention.

The guy was attractive, it didn’t seem like he’d have any trouble finding some company for the night, and Rins scanned his face, checking his features to see if any of them matched the description of his suspect.

Short hair was the only consistent detail that they had, but the long mane of hair could easily be a wig, and Rins felt his heart pound until he saw tattoos over his hands, no-one had mentioned tattoos, and they were distinctive enough that one of the eyewitnesses sould have remembered them.

Relaxing, he leant back against the wall, hoping that he looked sexy, but he’d take anything that didn’t make him look like an undercover officer.

“What’s your name, beautiful?” The customer dragged his eyes over him, and Rins smiled while he thought of a response.

Did he make up a fake name and hope it sounded sincere? Or did he just use his own name since it was generic enough?

Rins opened his mouth, preparing to lie, and tell the punter that his name was Sparkle, but he was lost in the guy’s deep blue eyes.

“Alex.”

“Pretty name for a pretty guy.” The customer rested his hand on Rins’ hip, leaning in closer so that he could whisper. “I’m Andrea.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“The pleasure’s all mine.”

Rins smiled, licking his lips and hoping that it looked sexy as he took Andrea’s hand, leading him down a darkened side street.

He was about to pull out his badge when Andrea’s lips were on his, and it took his breath away, his hands pulling him closer as he went to deepen the kiss.

And then he was reminded why he was here.

“Police!”

It wasn’t Alex’s voice, or anyone else at the station, which meant that another station had decided to clean up the streets for a night.

Rins froze as he wondered what to do next, but then Andrea grabbed his hand, his eyes wide as he dragged him down the alley, and Rins tried to reach into his shorts for his ID but it wasn’t there.

“Fuck.”

“It’ll be okay, I’ll keep you safe.”

Rins wasn’t sure why he trusted this guy, or why he was still holding his hand, but he followed him through the dark streets, wondering how his first undercover assignment could have gone so wrong.

*

Alex groped around for his can of Red Bull, and the fizzing sound had him cursing his luck as the sound of it sploshing over the floor

He grabbed Rins’ t-shirt, using it to mop up the sticky liquid, and then he heard the words that usually he was shouting.

“Police!”

Alex looked through his camera lens, scanning the faces of the sex workers and their customers that were fleeing the scene as fast as they could, only to realise that the police had the street blocked.

He didn’t recognise any of the officers, but that just meant they were from a different station. Alex tapped his fingers against the desk, hoping that he would hear Rins opening the door to the van, having escaped the raid.

Although all he’d have to do was flash his badge and they’d take him back to their station.

He watched as everyone was herded into police vans, his heart pounding as he kept looking for Rins’ bleach blond curls.

But there was no sign of Rins, or the guy that was chatting to him only minutes ago.

His hand hovered over his radio, but if someone had taken Rins, then finding out he was an undercover police officer could put his life in danger.

The police officers all scurried away once everyone was in the vans, off to fill out endless paperwork that would go nowhere, but it had to be done.

Alex rushed over to where Rins was last standing, and he looked around as to where he could have hidden when he heard the police raid.

An alley filled with bins was close by, and Alex wandered in, one hand on his baton as the smell week-old rubbish and stale urine made him gag.

And then he saw something that looked new and shiny among all the debris.

Rins’ badge.

“Fuck.”

He couldn’t radio this in, he had to keep this a secret, but he couldn’t deal with this alone.

Grabbing his phone out of his pocket, he called the one person that he could trust with anything.

“Marc, I need your help.” He couldn’t stop his voice from trembling, and he clutched at Rins’ badge, praying that wherever he was, he was unharmed.

“Text me your location and I’ll be right there.”

*

Rins ran until his legs were shaking, stumbling over his own feet, and Andrea caught him, holding him up as he gazed into his eyes.

“The police should be gone by now.”

“Thanks.”

“You should go home, it won’t be the last street they sweep tonight.”

“I’ll be fine, I promise.”

Andrea leant in for a chaste kiss, and Rins smiled, wondering what the guys at the station would think of him dating someone that he met while undercover. It was never going to happen, but he felt obligated to at least warn his knight in shining armour.

“You might want to find other ways to get your fun, a handsome guy like you should have his pick of pretty people at the nightclubs.”

“Like you can talk.” Andrea raised an eyebrow, and Rins leant in so that he could whisper to him.

“I’m an undercover police officer, and it would be wise of you to take my advice.” Rins snorted in laughter, and Andrea stepped back, his eyes wide as he scanned his face, looking for any sign that he was lying.

“You’re a police officer?” Andrea’s lips quirked up into a half-smile, and Rins wondered if he’d made things worse for himself, usually people knowing that he was an officer was a good thing.

“Yeah, so you should just go home and forget that we ever met.”

“Where’s your badge?”

Rins patted his shorts, but there was no sign of his badge, and he felt a shiver run down his neck as Andrea frowned, his eyes darting around as though he was waiting for someone.

“Fuck, I must have dropped it.”

“Just run along home, okay darling?” Andrea glanced at the end of the alley, but Rins wasn’t used to being the one ordered about.

“I’m really a police officer.”

“Have it your way then.”

Rins’ eyes went wide as Andrea whipped out his handcuffs, slapping them on before flashing his badge.

“You’re under arrest for solicitation, and for impersonating a police officer.”

Rins listened as he was read his rights, the cool metal of the handcuffs making him shiver as Andrea draped his jacket over his shoulders.

Andrea took his phone out of his pocket, calling in his location and arranging for a colleague to pick them up.

“Looks like you’re coming back to my place.”

Rins snorted in laughter, shaking his head as he wondered how long it would take for Alex to come get him, and if he’d ever hear the end of the jokes.

*

Marc showed up with Dani in tow, of course the two of them were together when he called, Marc was pretty much living at Dani’s place now, even if it wasn’t official yet.

Sitting on the step into the van, Alex had been hoping that Rins would show up now that the fuss had died down, but there was no sign of him, and he hadn’t called, although Alex had no idea of how far he’d have to go to find a payphone that worked.

Marc sat down next to him, Dani flanking the other side and making him feel like a giant.

“What happened?”

Alex told them everything that he could remember, and he showed them Rins’ badge, gripping it as though if he held it tight enough he would be able to sense where Rins was.

“Maybe he’s got a lift back to the station?” Marc wrapped his arm around Alex, pulling him closer as he tried not to let the lump in his throat grow.

“Jorge’s going to call me if Rins shows up there.” Dani took Alex’s hand, giving it a little squeeze as Marc lay his hand over theirs.

“Do you think he could have been taken by one of the customers?” Alex compressed his lips, the silence worrying, but it was a lot to expect reassurance from people who saw the worst of people every day.

“We should look at your surveillance footage and see if anyone stands out.” Marc stroked Alex’s back, encouraging him to move.

“I’ll go get some hot coffee, and I’ll see if Jorge’s heard anything.” Dani gave Marc a kiss on the cheek before heading down the street to the twenty-four hour burger joint on the corner.

Alex jumped into action, the promise of coffee a good kick to the system, and he started the footage at the beginning, running it at eight times the normal speed. He hoped that something would stand out, that it would jog his memory, but it all looked like an average night, with average people just going about their work.

The door to the van slid open, and the smell of coffee made Alex feel alive, the warmth of the cup in his hand comforting.

Dani peered over his shoulder at the small tv screen, his finger hovering over someone as he watched the images flicker by.

“Pause it.” Dani scrolled through a few frames to get a clear shot of a guy talking to Rins. “I recognise that guy.”

“A friend of yours?” Marc wiggled his eyebrows, grinning as Dani managed a small smile.

“Not exactly. We were rookies together, but he ended up at another station.”

“Is he still an officer?” Alex felt dizzy, unsure if it was the caffeine kicking in.

“As far as I know.” Dani bit at his lip, and Alex could tell that they were all thinking the same thing.

“He’ll lose his job if they find out he’s been paying for company.” Marc shook his head, and Alex felt his heart pound.

“You don’t think he’d hurt Rins?”

“It’s going to be okay.” Marc wrapped his arm around Alex’s shoulders, comforting him as Dani rooted around in his pocket, pulling out his phone and scrolling through his contacts.

“I’ll make a few discreet calls, see if I can get a home address for him.”

“Thank you, both of you.” Alex cuddled in to Marc, letting himself be held as Marc stroked his hair, and he felt like a kid again, out of his depth and needing his big brother to help him.

“Rins is one of us, and we’ll do everything in our power to get him home safe.”

*

Rins fidgeted in the seat, the fabric scratchy against his bare skin, and it didn’t help that he was now handcuffed to a bar in front of him, meaning that he couldn’t comfortably sit back.

He tried to settle, but it was no use, and he knew that Andrea’s colleague, who unsurprisingly had given no name, had done this to annoy him.

“You know, regulations state that arrested persons should not be handcuffed to any static part of the car, or any other person, while it is moving, to reduce the risk of injury in a road traffic collision.”

“Get booked a lot do you?” The officer looked back over his shoulder, and Rins opened his mouth to say something, but he knew that pointing out procedural errors wasn’t going help him out of this situation. “Or are you trying to pay your way through law school by hooking?”

“Why, are you looking for some fun, officer?”

Andrea snorted in laughter before coughing to hide it, and Rins was glad that he was the one sitting in the back with him and not his fellow officer.

“The station’s not far, then we can take the handcuffs off.”

“Thanks.”

Rins didn’t miss the strange look that the other officer gave them, but he seemed like the sort of guy that should have had his badge taken away long ago, the same time as beating suspects went out of fashion.

Parking up at the back of a more modern looking police station, Officer No Name left Andrea to deal with him, gone before Andrea could even undo the first cuff.

“He’s a barrel of laughs.”

“He was the only one not out cleaning up the streets tonight.”

“Gotta get that arrest rate up somehow,” Rins muttered under his breath, and Andrea paused before undoing the second cuff.

“I know you probably don’t have a good impression of police officers, but I am trying to help you.”

Rins nodded, he hadn’t set out to upset Andrea, but it looked like he’d managed it, and it didn’t feel good.

Andrea left the cuffs off as he led Rins into the station, the warm air stinging at his frozen skin. He was glad that he still had Andrea’s jacket draped around his shoulders, the smell of petrol and leather comforting, and he pulled it tight around himself as he followed Andrea through the generic looking corridors covered in posters for anti-crime initiatives.

He was led to a desk that looked like every other police officer’s desk, half unsolved case files stacked perilously high, another third covered in empty coffee cups, and the rest taken up by the computer, the keyboard resting on another small stack of files.

Andrea left him sitting by the desk, nodding to a colleague to keep an eye on him, and Rins watched as he walked away, his jeans a nice fit over his perfect rear.

But nothing was as good as the view of him walking back in with two cups of coffee in his hands.

“I hope you take it milky and sweet.”

“Yes, thanks.”

“You looked like you could do with a hot drink to warm you up.”

Rins mumbled his thanks as he took a sip, and he couldn’t stop the little groan of satisfaction from escaping his lips.

“Good?”

“Yes, considering this is police coffee, it’s a miracle.”

“I aim to please.” Andrea smiled, and Rins felt warm and fuzzy inside, and it wasn’t just from the coffee. It was a pity that they had to meet this way.

“Is your name really Andrea?”

“Yes, Andrea Iannone.” He handed Rins his badge, and he stared at it for a while, his hair much shorter in the picture, and he was clean shaven, as all officers were expected to be.

But Rins had to admit that Andrea looked good with his mane of long hair and some sexy stubble.

“Is Alex your real name?”

“Yes, Alex Rins.” He put out his hand to shake, although it was a bit late for that since they’d been making out in an alley less than an hour ago.

“Still think you’re a police officer?”

“Yes, my partner is Alex Marquez, and I’m based at Sergeant Rossi’s station.” Rins folded his arms, hoping that would be enough to convince Andrea that he was telling the truth.

“Really?” Andrea shuffled over a newspaper that was lying out on his desk, the picture of his partner smiling out at him, and Rins realised that all the information was there in print.

“Oh, I forgot everyone’s still talking about boy wonder.” Rins tried to think of a detail that Andrea could check, but their badge numbers weren’t accessible at their level, it would take whoever was Rossi’s equivalent here, and the odds were that they were home for the night, tucked up in bed while their officers did all the hard work.

He tapped his fingers on the desk, and Andrea reached out to stop him, resting his hand on top of his.

“Is there anything that you can tell me that I can check on the system?”

“No.” Rins took a deep breath, taking another sip of coffee to steady himself. “But I can tell you which officers at my station are dating?”

“Are you really expecting me to phone Sergeant Rossi at…” Andrea glanced at his watch, his eyes wide when he saw the time and Rins knew that it was late just from how quiet the streets were when they parked up. “It’s gone half one in the morning.”

Rins fluttered his eyelashes, and he didn’t miss the way that Andrea’s gaze lingered. “I’ll say please?”

“Okay then, tell me all the gossip.” Andrea leant in, and Rins smiled, now that he wasn’t frozen to the bone he could finally have some fun.

“So, Marc and Dani are dating, and everyone knows it, they pretty much live together. Jorge and Aleix are dating, and they think they’re being subtle about it but they not, always sneaking off into the evidence locker to make out. And finally boy wonder here”–Rins pointed at Alex’s picture in the newspaper– “He’s dating the Sergeant’s little brother, but I don’t think he knows about it yet so that needs to stay between us.”

Andrea pressed his finger to his lips, and Rins found himself giggling, the lack of food and the rush of caffeine making him hyper, well, more hyper than usual.

“Is there anyone in your station that isn’t dating a colleague?”

“I’m still single.” His tongue picked the worst moment to lick up the coffee from around lips, and he felt a blush creep on to his cheeks, but it was worth it to see Andrea’s glazed eyes watching him intently.

“I would say it’s an occupational hazard, but your colleagues have definitely found a way to work unsociable hours and have a love life.”

Rins smiled, the air crackling with static electricity as he caught Andrea’s gaze, but then it faded, disappearing into the ether as Andrea frowned.

“I hope you know that if I call Sergeant Rossi, and he says he has no idea who you are, you’re spending the weekend in holding.”

“He better remember me.” Rins sat back in his chair as Andrea grabbed his phone, and he felt his body tense as he waited for Rossi to answer.

“Hi, Uccio, is Vale there?”

Rins leant in closer, and Andrea covered the speaker before whispering to him, “It’s Vale’s husband.”

Andrea nodded as Uccio spoke, but Rins couldn’t hear the other side of the conversation. “Yes, sorry to call so late, can you tell him it’s work.”

Rins mouthed the word husband, and Andrea gave him a little nod as though it was common knowledge. He tried to remember if he’d ever seen the Sergeant wearing a ring, but quite a few police officers didn’t wear their wedding ring when they were on duty.

“Morning, Vale.” Andrea glanced up at Rins and he really hoped that the Sergeant’s memory was as good as it usually was at nearly two in the morning. “I’ve got an officer of yours here, Alex Rins?”

Andrea’s eyes went wide, and Rins wondered how much trouble he was in now.

“Yes, he’s safe and sound, a little cold but he’ll live. He’s here with me at the station.”

Andrea scribbled something down in his notebook, a phone number, but Rins didn’t recognise it.

“Night, Vale.”

Rins reached out for Andrea’s hand as he put the phone down, trying to see the number again in the hopes that it would jog his memory.

“It turns out that half your station is looking for you, they thought you’d been kidnapped by one of the punters.”

“What?”

*

Alex sipped at his third coffee of the night, the warmth no longer comforting as the acid churned in his stomach.

“I’ve got a home address for Andrea.” Dani stood up, short enough to do it without worrying about hitting his head on the roof of the van as Alex had many times tonight, although that felt like his penance for not keeping Rins safe.

“Do you really think that he’d take Rins there?”

“Probably not, unless…” Marc trailed off, and Alex felt the acid burning through his veins. If Andrea had taken him home, that meant he wasn’t thinking about procedures, and there was no knowing what he would do to Rins.

“I’ll go check it out.” Dani gave Alex a hug before giving Marc a kiss on the cheek.

“Call me when you get there. And be safe.” Marc reached out to hold Dani’s hand, and he saw the worry in Marc’s eyes, the worry that all police officers lived with, not knowing what was waiting for them when they got to a scene.

“I will. I love you.”

“Love you too.” Marc squeezed Dani’s hand, letting it slip out of his as Dani slinked out of the van.

Alex sat back in his seat, he wanted to be able to do something, anything, to help find Rins, and yet there was nothing to do but wait.

Someone knocked on the door of the van, and Alex assumed that Dani had forgotten something, but he slid the door open to see Jorge standing there with four coffees balanced in his hand.

“I thought you might need coffee.”

“And…” Marc took the coffees out of his hand so that he could step into the van, and Jorge pulled the door shut behind him, taking a seat as Alex felt like time had slowed.

“The Sergeant called to ask how you two got on, and I had to tell him what happened.” Jorge held his hands up as though he was surrendering, and Alex buried his face in his hands.

“This is a nightmare.”

“We’re doing everything that we can.” Marc stroked his back, and Jorge pressed a cup into his hand, the sweet hot chocolate cutting through the burn of the caffeine.

“Aleix is keeping an eye out at the station, and Maverick is at Rins’ place, just in case he shows up there.”

“Rins has a puppy, fuck, how could I have forgot that?” Alex gasped, his mind had been so distracted that it hadn’t crossed his mind, and he felt the lump grow in his throat as he wondered who would look after her if they didn’t find Rins.

“Maverick will take good care of her, you know how much he loves dogs.” Jorge pulled him into a hug, and Alex buried his face against his shoulder, the exhaustion catching up with him as he mentally gave himself a slap.

“I’m going to go down to Andrea’s station, see if I can get any info on him.” Alex took a breath, feeling better now he had something to do. “Maybe it’ll give me a better sense of where he could have taken Rins.”

Jorge pressed his car keys into Alex’s hand, and Marc grabbed his jacket, he wasn’t going to leave his side until this was solved.

“I’ll call you if Rins shows up here, I promise.” Jorge made himself comfy in the seat, and Alex felt lucky to have so many people looking out for him.

“Thank you.”

*

“There’s no answer on any of their mobiles, and the station line is engaged.” Rins handed Andrea’s phone back to him. “I’ve left them messages but I’ve no idea if anyone actually checks them.”

“I’ll text Vale, he’ll get someone to come pick you up.” Andrea smiled as he fired off the message, and Rins wondered what the Sergeant would think about being used as a taxi service.

“Thank you.”

Andrea put his phone down, before shuffling a few pieces of paper around, clearing just enough space for “What were you doing out on the streets?”

“There’s a guy that’s been assaulting sex workers down by the river, and we thought we’d be able to get him off the street once and for all.”

“What have you got?”

“A vague description, and a DNA sample with no match in the system.” Rins shrugged, it was the same for a lot of cases, there wasn’t enough for them to do anything except wait for them to be arrested for something else.

“Do you remember the case number?” Andrea moved his seat over so that there was space for Rins to sit at the computer.

“Yeah.” Rins was glad that his chair had wheels so he didn’t have to stand up and walk round, even if it was just a few steps away.

Typing away he felt Andrea watching him, and he blushed when he felt Andrea’s breath on his neck, the warmth arousing as he tried to focus on navigating the police system.

“This is it, we’ve got a few eyewitness statements that are mostly conflicting, and DNA that we collected from under the fingernails of two of the victims.”

Andrea peered over Rins’ shoulder, resting his arm on the back of his seat as Rins leant back, enjoying the feeling of Andrea’s warm body against his.

“I’ll call down and get them to take DNA for all the punters we rounded up tonight, none of them are going anywhere until Monday morning.” Andrea grabbed the phone, nodding as he chatted away, and Rins tried to listen in, but it was impossible to get close enough without sitting in Andrea’s lap.

Not that he would have said no if Andrea offered.

“It’s your lucky day, one of them was caught with a knife, when questioned about that and the scratch wounds on his face and arm, he told them everything. When the lab matches the samples that should be an easy conviction.” Andrea shuffled closer, and Rins did the same, their knees touching as Andrea leant in. “I guess I should thank you for linking up the cases.”

“Typical, I help solve a case and someone else is going to take credit for it, again.” Rins pouted, but it was mostly for show, and Andrea draped his arm around his shoulders.

“That’s police work, most of the time no-one even says thank you.”

“Thank you.”

*

Marc’s phone buzzed, and he answered it without hesitation, putting Dani on speaker so that Alex could hear the conversation.

“Rossi called, Rins is with Andrea an-“

“I’ll kill him.” Marc clenched his fist, and Dani sighed, the tinny echo to the speaker making it sound more dramatic.

“If you’d just let me finish,” Dani said, and Alex could hear him rolling his eyes, “I was going to say he’s with Andrea at his station.”

“So, he’s okay?” Alex cut in, and Marc gestured for him to pay attention to the road.

“He’s fine.” Dani sounded tired, and Alex felt guilty for causing such a fuss. “Are you two okay to go and pick Rins up?”

“Sure, we’re on our way there.”

Alex took a breath, and he drove as fast as the speed limit would allow, desperate to see that Rins was okay.

*

Andrea grimaced when his phone rang, and picked it up with a sigh, and Rins felt bad for causing him all this hassle.

“There’s two Marquezes down at reception for you.” Andrea raised an eyebrow, and Rins smiled.

“Yeah, they tend to travel in packs.” Rins laughed, pausing to bite on his lip, and he knew that his time with Andrea was running out. “Thank you for everything.”

“Just doing my job.”

“And the kiss?” Rins met his gaze, wondering if Andrea could feel the sparks flying.

“That was for fun.” Andrea smiled, and Rins couldn’t keep his eyes off his plump lips. “You’re a good kisser.”

“So are you.”

“Would you like to go out sometime, a date where neither of us is working?” Andrea scribbled down his number on a piece of paper.

“Sure.”

“How about now?”

“I’d like that.”

*

Alex stood staring at Luca’s door, now that he knew Rins was safe that was one thing off his mind, but he had a boyfriend that wasn’t best chuffed about being kept out of the loop.

But Alex had a bigger problem, the Sergeant answering the door.

It was his house, and of course he would be here, but he’d just assumed that Luca would make sure that his big brother didn’t see him.

“Er, hi.” Alex had never seen the sergeant out of his uniform, and seeing him in his pyjamas and a dressing gown was a shock to the system.

“Alex, come in.”

“I’m sorry that your night off was disturbed.”

“You don’t get nights off as a sergeant, it’s part of the job description.” Vale chuckled to himself as he wandered back into the house, and Alex rushed to slip off his shoes and jacket, following Vale towards the kitchen.

“Would you like a drink?” Vale pulled two beers out of the fridge, and Alex paused before answering, wondering if he should be drinking after a tiring shift, but he was off-duty now.

“Yes, thank you Sergeant Rossi.”

“You can call me Vale.” He rested his hand on Alex’s shoulder, and Alex nodded, taking the beer that was offered to him. “You didn’t have to come all this way just to apologise.”

Alex paused, and the sergeant’s smile said that he knew everything.

“Come and have a seat, I think we should have a little chat.”

Alex felt his heart pound as he followed Vale to the living room, the furniture sleek and stylish, as though his mother had picked it out for him.

Luca was curled up on a small sofa, and Alex wondered if it would look more suspicious if he sat next to him or not.

In the end he sat down on the sofa, Luca reaching out to take his hand once he was settled, and he took a swig of beer as Vale made himself comfy.

“Everyone else knew about Rins but not me?” Luca didn’t sound impressed, and Alex was scared to look up in case he was disappointed.

“I only told Marc, who told Dani, who told Jorge, who told Aleix, and the sergeant, sorry, Vale.” Alex let out a little groan, and he buried his face against Luca’s shoulder, not caring that Vale was in the room.

Luca held him tight, and for the first time all day, he felt safe and calm. Right up until Vale burst their bubble.

“So, when were you going to tell me that you were dating someone?”

“Well…”  Luca took the bottle of beer out of Alex’s hand, gulping down a large swig as Vale did the same.

“More importantly, when were you going to fill in the paperwork so that it’s all official and on the record?”

“Erm…” Luca blushed, and Alex remembered Marc saying something about it, but he’d assumed he wouldn’t have to do it until things got serious.

“I expect it on my desk first thing Monday morning.”

“Yes, sir.” Alex bit his tongue as Vale laughed, some habits were hard to break.

“I’ll give you two some privacy, just keep the noise down, okay? I’m too old to be up all night.”

“We’ll behave, I promise.” Luca fluttered his eyelashes, and Vale chuckled, wandering towards the door as he swigged at his beer.

“Night, guys.”

The door shut, and Luca smiled, leaning in for a kiss, and Alex knew that his definition of behaving was very different to his brother’s.

*

Rins no longer felt cold, even though the wind was nipping at his bare legs, because he had Andrea’s arm draped over him, making him feel warm and fuzzy inside.

They walked down the street, heading towards a small café that proudly displayed an ‘open 24h’ sign outside, and was no doubt filled with a mix of clubbers heading home, and police officers about to start a graveyard shift.

“This place does the best pancakes that you’ve ever tasted.”

Rins’ stomach rumbled in agreement, making them both laugh. “I haven’t had anything but coffee since breakfast this morning.”

“Then you’re in for a real treat.”

Strolling into the café, the smell of sweet syrupy goodness and freshly ground coffee made Rins’ mouth water, and Andrea only had to smile at the guy behind the counter to have him pouring them a cup.

Andrea led him to a couple of stools at the end of the counter, tucked out of the way, and by the time Rins had hopped up on to the chair, his coffee was waiting for him.

“Let me guess, pancakes, and… pancakes?” The guy laughed, and Andrea laughed along with him, seemingly oblivious to the fact that Rins was wearing denim cut-offs and a skimpy vest, and couldn’t have looked any less like a police officer if he tried.

“The coffee here is amazing.”

Rins heaped in the sugar, his mouth watering as he watched the pancakes being made, and he had to focus so that he didn’t end up drooling.

When they were done, they almost looked too good to eat. Almost.

Devouring them with huge bites, he ate them embarrassingly quickly, and Andrea offered him the last bite of his, the soft syrupy dough satisfying his urges in a primal way.

“You look too young to be an officer.”

“I was a rookie this time last year.”

Andrea spluttered at that, coffee dribbling down the side of the cup as he wiped his lips on the back of his hand.

“Sorry, you look young, but I didn’t realise you were that young.”

“Regretting picking me up now?” Rins smiled, and Andrea shook his head.

“No, not at all.” Andrea smiled, his hand warm as it rested on his knee. “It’s even more impressive that you’d go undercover.”

“I was just doing my job.” Rins shrugged, resting his hand over Andrea’s as he smiled. “Anyway, it’s been a long shift and I would love to talk about something other than work.”

“What’s your favourite colour?”

Rins laughed with such force that he almost toppled off his stool, and Andrea put his arm around him, pulling him closer until he was cuddled in under Andrea’s arm.

“Blue, you?”

“That’s my favourite colour too.”

“It looks like we’re meant to be.”

Andrea leant in for a kiss, soft and tender, and Rins licked up the traces of syrup and coffee from his lips, the rest of the world carrying on in blissful ignorance to their affectionate display.

“Maybe we shouldn’t tell people exactly how we met.”

Rins laughed, given that most of his station would know by now it was a little bit late.

“What are the odds of two undercover police officers meeting like that?”

“I don’t know, but I’m glad that I met you.”

Rins smiled, stifling a yawn as he cuddled in. “Me too.”

**Author's Note:**

> *and obviously none of this actually happened, it is all a figment of my twisted imagination ;)


End file.
